villain
Use Villain in a sentence
ən noun
1.
a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.
2.
a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.
3.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To villain
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Villain
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
villain (ˈvɪlən) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a wicked or malevolent person |
| 2. | (in a novel, play, film, etc) the main evil character and antagonist to the hero |
| 3. | jocular often a mischievous person; rogue |
| 4. | slang (Brit) a criminal |
| 5. | history a variant spelling of villein |
| 6. | obsolete an uncouth person; boor |
| [C14: from Old French vilein serf, from Late Latin vīllānus worker on a country estate, from Latin: | |
| 'villainess | |
| —fem n | |
| villein or villain (ˈvɪlən) | |
| —n | |
| (in medieval Europe) a peasant personally bound to his lord, to whom he paid dues and services, sometimes commuted to rents, in return for his land | |
| [C14: from Old French vilein serf; see | |
| villain or villain | |
| —n | |
| [C14: from Old French vilein serf; see | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
villain
c.1300, "base or low-born rustic," from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. villain, from M.L. villanus "farmhand," from L. villa "country house" (see villa).
"The most important phases of the sense development of this word may be summed up as follows: 'inhabitant of a farm; peasant; churl, boor; clown; miser; knave, scoundrel.' Today both Fr. vilain and Eng. villain are used only in a pejorative sense." [Klein]Meaning "character in a novel, play, etc. whose evil motives or actions help drive the plot" is from 1822.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Please try to refocus your obsessive wrath on the real villain here.
Too often films nowadays attempt to make the villain attractive.
It is seldom that punishment though lame of foot has failed to overtake a villain.
When a project comes in over budget and way past schedule, poor management could be the villain.
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